


Asset Retrieval

by Daegaer



Series: Problems in Navigation [9]
Category: Weiß Kreuz
Genre: AU, Assassins & Hitmen, Canon-Typical Violence, Kidnapping, M/M, Psychic Abilities, Slavery, Space Opera, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 06:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5080732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daegaer/pseuds/Daegaer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A trip to explore a market goes awry when one of Crawford's navigators vanishes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Asset Retrieval

It was the greatest relief, Crawford thought, to have come safely through jump to their next destination and see the coordinates for Tulleerin displayed on his console. Their holds weren't as full as he'd have liked, but it would be a profitable enough journey, as long as he didn't think about the loans to pay off the ship's repairs. Concentrate on the fact of being alive and free to pay them off, he told himself.

"Good advice, Captain," Schuldig said. "You should take it." Before Crawford could do more than give him a sardonic look he pressed the all-ship on the comm. "All hands, stand down from jump, we are at Tulleerin." He clicked the comm off and greedily drained a rehydration pack before going to check on Navigation.

Crawford looked at the reports coming in. Everything was running smoothly and there seemed to be no trouble waiting for them in-system, thank all the gods. He set course for the main planet and stretched, taking up a second rehydration pack. It was depressing how quickly the body decided to start insisting it was preferable not to engage in hyperspatial travel, he thought. Their enforced stay station-side had left him feeling more dry-mouthed and weaker than usual after the jump.

"How's the Nav?"

"Still a bit out of it," Schuldig said, coiling up the navigation station's cables. He gently coaxed the feebly stirring form lying in the station further awake. "Come on, Ran, up we get –" He got the navigator to his feet, if swaying a little, his eyes unfocused, and pulled the loose tunic down over the young man's head. "There we go. Now, drink this – good boy. Come on, all of it, that's right. All right, let's get you properly fed and rested." He looked over at Crawford. "Coming, Captain?"

"You take him down, I'll follow."

Schuldig took Ran's arm and led him from the bridge, talking quietly and calmly to him, leaving Crawford alone. He took a final check on all the reports; the numbers stayed gods-be-blessed the same. The repairs had held, the system was peaceful, they could resume their undisturbed civilian lives. He let out a deep breath, and followed Schuldig and Ran to the galley.

* * *

"Shore leave? You just had extended leave on station," Crawford grumbled. His crew eyed each other, clearly trying to decide which of them was most persuasive. Schuldig stared into his vile fruit tea, radiating the obvious desire to be seen as neutral in the whole matter.

"That was a _station_ , Captain," Farfarello said. "We haven't had planetary leave since you picked up the Nav." He took a breath, ready for what was, no doubt, a long and carefully-rehearsed speech.

"All right," Crawford said, enjoying seeing the crew wrong-footed. They'd probably been working on arguments in their favour for hours, and he found it amusing that Farfarello was the one who'd broken first in the desire to put them to him. He and Schuldig had made the decision the previous day, not that they'd admit it if asked. "The rota will be on your personal comms. Don't scare the locals too much. Try not to drink so much that you need your stomachs pumped more than once."

It would be too easy, he thought, to get used to pleasing people; he shouldn't act in this way often. Nagi was almost smiling openly, by all the gods.

"I hope you're not leaving me with both the navs," Schuldig said, breaking in on his thoughts. A mean grin spread across the first officer's face as the possibility of being left with him all too clearly struck Ran. "Do you want charge of Nanami for a change, Captain?"

"I'll take Ran," Crawford said, fighting the urge to cast his eyes up in a plea to the gods to somehow make the man less malicious. Schuldig's grin widened.

"Shame. I'd looked forward to renewing our friendship."

Ran took a deliberate and clear step closer to Crawford, his face stony.

_See? I'm doing you a favour._

The feeling of laughter in his mind made Crawford want to shiver, but he kept his expression bland. "No one's on leave yet," he said. "Everyone back to their stations and let's get the ship to dock." As they cheerfully scattered he put a hand on Ran's elbow. "Ran, you stay here. Have a seat, boy. I need to go over these cargo possibilities that are coming in." 

Ran warily sat on the bench beside him, quietly and slowly becoming less tense as Crawford read and checked numbers. When Crawford turned to him at last, he seemed calm enough. 

"He was just needling you," Crawford said, and squeezed Ran's shoulder. "He isn't going to do anything. He doesn't want to harm you, whether you believe that or not." Ran's face told him his opinion, but the boy stayed quiet, which was all he had asked of him. "Good," Crawford said, and risked turning the contact into something more like the petting that Sani had always seemed to like. "We've always been a tight-knit group," he said. "You have to expect some teasing and jokes."

"I don't like the subject matter," Ran said frostily.

"I know," Crawford said, wondering when his hand would be thrown off Ran's shoulder. "Even so, the First Officer doesn't put his hands on you except in the course of his duty, isn't that right? And he's not rough with you then?"

"I don't even feel him make the connections," Ran muttered grudgingly. "And he lets me see the hypospray dosage so I know it's the right amount – damn it! Why are you asking me to be fair about him?" He turned away abruptly, leaving Crawford looking at his back.

It wouldn't be helpful to punish him for disrespect, Crawford thought, so he just forcibly turned Ran back again, his hands firm on the young man's shoulders. 

"Because I need everyone to work together," he said. "When you're teased either give no response at all, or find something to distract him with. It's what everyone else does. Don't cringe or act like prey, boy. It'll just make bad times go on longer."

Ran looked at him in deep suspicion. "Why are you saying this to me?" he said at last. "He's your friend."

Crawford shrugged. _You made me remember being thirteen_ wasn't much of an answer, not when he considered what it had been like to be thirteen on the _Terror_. And _it's a survival tip we all picked up early_ wasn't any better. He certainly wasn't saying anything about enjoying seeing Ran's gods'-damned smile.

"I want a navigator whose mind isn't clouded by anything it shouldn't be," he said. "No one is going to touch you without my permission; you're under my protection; words are nothing - you're able to deal with them, aren't you?"

"You're not going to give anyone your permission, Captain?" Ran said, his voice tight.

"Don't obsess, you're fine. If anyone worries you, come straight to me. No one on the crew will harm you."

The tension was draining from Ran's muscles. Crawford nodded in satisfaction at his calmer demeanour.

"I need to get back to this," he said, indicating his data pad. "Why don't you go to Engineering and see if Nagi has time to explain anything to you? If not, you can do some study in your quarters."

"Thank you, Captain," Ran said. He stood, and paused. "Thank you for taking things seriously."

"I take everything on the ship seriously," Crawford said. "I want a smooth-running ship and a smooth-running crew. Remember that."

He put Ran from his mind and got back to work, checking the early cargo offers and enquiries coming in, and running through the clearances needed for landing – far fewer for planetary landings than for station dockings, for which he was grateful.

"Still commandeering the galley, I see," Schuldig said from the doorway.

"I might get the urge to eat all the snacks, so it's convenient," Crawford said, not looking up.

"Good point. I'm here to help. With the work, not the snacks."

"Just as well, I've already eaten through the contents of most of the cupboards." Crawford looked up and grinned. "This is as boring as all the heavens' idea of a good night out. Save me."

"Gods, if only our pursuers and various enemies knew how much of a goof you are," Schuldig said, sliding onto the bench opposite. "We'd never live it down. Come on, I'll do the nasty hard work for you."

"Gods be thanked. And thank you, too. I'll even make you a cup of that puke you call tea, if you promise to pretend I'm a hard-nosed bastard in public."

"Do my best," Schuldig said, looking at the data pad and certifying that all the crew were healthy and free from plague. "We're required to purchase medical insurance for our stay. Any preferences?"

"The crew will be drinking all day every day. You'd better get something good – if you can't figure out how to get around the requirement completely."

Crawford made a mug of the fruit tea and put it by Schuldig's hand, thinking how pleasant it was to have a friend he didn't have to put on any mask for, whom he could depend on and by whom he could be depended on in turn. Schuldig sipped the tea, looking up at him quizzically.

"What?" Crawford said.

"Nothing, nothing. Are you feeling all right?"

"Of course. Can't I appreciate the few good things about you without you eavesdropping?"

"It's one of my better qualities," Schuldig said, and got back to work.

* * *

"Stay close," Crawford said. "I don't want you to get lost."

"I won't get lost," Ran said, rather too snippily for Crawford's liking. "I'm not a child." He was already looking around as if he couldn't wait to go exploring.

"You're valuable property," Crawford reminded him, and was pleased to see that he controlled his expression. "What I want from you is some sense – the First Officer and I need to look around before a meeting, and I want you to keep an eye on Nanami for me."

"This should be fun," Schuldig muttered. "What could _possibly_ go wrong? Captain? That's an actual question." 

Ran looked at Nanami dubiously, his face screwing up in distaste as he saw she was picking her nose.

"Gods," he said. "Captain, I'm no good at babysitting, especially not people like her –"

"Ran," Schuldig said, " _you're_ a person like her. Don't be so damn cruel, take care of the poor girl while the Captain and I do our best to continue putting food in your opinionated mouth." He put Nanami's hand in Ran's and gave him a level stare. "Be nice. Nanami, pretty thing, Ran's going to mind you, all right? You hold his hand like a good girl."

"She doesn't want to," Nanami whimpered. "That boy thinks bad things about her."

"He thinks good things today," Crawford said, and Ran's shoulders slumped. "Ran," he said warningly, "be sensible. Stay close, and don't let go of her."

"She was picking her nose," Ran muttered, but kept a good grip on Nanami's hand.

Schuldig rolled his eyes behind their backs, then adopted a false and sunny smile as he turned to the sulky navigators. "Let's go, kids. Time to do some shopping! You like shopping, don't you, Nanami? Of course you do. Ran's going to buy you something nice when we get to the market."

Ran's eyes widened in outrage, but before he could say anything Crawford flicked a finger against the side of his head.

"I've given you some additional spending credit," he said. "We don't get planetary leave all that often, and I thought you might like to be able to afford a couple of treats for yourself and a crewmate."

"Thank you, Captain," Ran muttered, at least mollified that he was being given money to spend on his fellow nav.

"Aren't you generous?" Schuldig said in spiteful cheer. "And you're not even getting any head in return - such a philanthropist! Aw, look at Ran's little annoyed-face, now off we go!"

The trip to the market was uneventful, Crawford and Schuldig talking as best they could in the hired transport while Ran and Nanami kept up a low level of warfare behind them. It seemed to involve Ran's belief that hand-holding wasn't needed in the close confines of a vehicle, and Nanami's sly intrusion of her somehow ever-stickier hand into his grasp.

"Gods, are they actually adults?" Crawford said as the transport slowed.

"Navs," Schuldig shrugged. "Not like you and me, Captain." He turned around to them as the transport stopped, the driver clearly irritated by her passengers. "You two, keep hold of each other now, you hear? No more silly games." He got them out and kept an eye on them as Crawford paid their fare and joined them.  
The market stretched before them, kilometres of shop fronts and stalls selling everything that they could want or need. Crawford strode straight in, Schuldig by him, Ran and Nanami at his heels, ignoring the food merchants at the edge of the market. What he needed right now was to get a good idea of the layout of the place, of how quickly he could move from one area to another. It wasn't that he really expected the business deal he had arranged for the next day to go bad – he had had no warnings of anything going awry – but old habits had kept him alive for many years, and he saw no point in letting them slide. 

The passages between shops were crowded and difficult to move through, the navigators adding an unwitting extra level of difficulty – what if he had to move a wounded crew member? Schuldig brushed his arm and nodded ahead.

_Ready?_

The crowds before them parted just a little, allowing easier movement – a fast walk, Crawford thought, a run was still impossible. By the time they reached an intersection barely seventy metres away Schuldig was looking exhausted, his face bathed in sweat.

"Dear, sweet gods above and below," he said, and bent over, breathing as if he'd run a race.

"Is he sick?" Nanami said in interest. She hunkered down to peer into Schuldig's face. "Is he going to die?"

"No such luck," Ran said, and dredged up something resembling one of Schuldig's own unpleasant smiles as the first officer looked up in irritation.

"Ran, I've spoken to you about manners," Crawford said. "Apologise."

"Sorry, First Officer," Ran said, in horribly sweet tones.

"Give me a moment, Captain," Schuldig said, "then I'll break his neck." He took a deep breath, and another. "Far too many people," he said quietly. "I can't get them to move quickly enough if we need to make a fast exit, and it's like an army shouting right into my face. I'd appreciate getting inside somewhere with walls and a door that shuts."

"Yes, of course," Crawford said. "We can find somewhere."

"I'd thought I'd got used to crowds again on-station," Schuldig said ruefully. "But this - fucking planets and their population densities." 

Crawford looked at a map of the market on his comm and checked his surroundings before leading them to a restaurant that had all he wanted right then, a wall that blocked Schuldig's sight of so many people. He wasn't sure that it was enough to stop him sensing their minds; on board ship Schuldig was perfectly capable of sensing the thoughts of people in other areas, but perhaps all he needed was the illusion of privacy.

"Cakes," Crawford said, waving the menu away. It was still too early for lunch, and he knew what Schuldig needed. They'd always been told that sugar and carbs were what the body required after exerting their abilities. "Bring us a selection of cakes and pastries, with strong tea."

"Thanks," Schuldig said, and took a massive bite from a custard-filled pastry when they arrived. "That crowd's just too big for me, Captain. We need to work around it rather than go through it. It's not like the station."

"We'll work out a route to the edge of the market, then," Crawford said, "or straight up. We'll leave Nagi on the ship and get him to fly over and blow the roof off if we need an escape route."

"And have another system lost to us," Schuldig said. "Come on, you haven't felt anything, we're going to be fine."

"I am feeling a premonition of doom about this," Crawford said gloomily, indicating the navigators. Nanami was liberally covered in powdered sugar and Ran was trying to wipe her hands clean. She drank his tea daintily and looked confused when he glared into his cup in annoyance.

"I'm feeling better, we can go," Schuldig said, after another cake and a second cup of tea. "Nanami, you eat up, we're going to go now. Ran, you too."

"Yes, First Officer," Ran said. "She's very sticky now."

"You still have to hold her hand, right, Captain?"

"Right," Crawford said. "Don't wander off. We should see what sort of small, local products might be worth exporting," he said as they walked along. "Maybe we could move luxury art or jewelry."

"Do we want to speculate on that sort of item?" Schuldig said. "Sticking with bulk contracts is safer –"

They were deep in the conversation before Crawford felt the shiver of alarm. _He was about to lose an item of value_. He looked around. Gods. The navs. He couldn't think when he'd last seen them.

"The navs! Where in all the hells are they?"

Schuldig looked around. "Damn. _Damn_." He closed his eyes, his face taut in concentration. "Come on, come on – " His eyes flew open; he shook his head as if he heard an insect's buzz. "I think – that way!" 

They hurried through the throng, doubling back on their trail as Schuldig stopped and started, as if he were picking up a scent then suddenly heard a frantic, "Nanami! Nanami, where are you?"

"Ran!" Crawford yelled, and forced himself in the direction of Ran's voice. The young man was standing near some cheap fast-food sellers, his face pale in their neon lights' colourful display. Nanami was nowhere to be seen.

"Captain!" Ran said, "Oh gods, Captain, I took my eyes off her for a minute –"

"I told you –" Schuldig began, his voice sharp with worry and the strain of having had to expose himself mentally so soon to the vast crowds once more.

"Wait," Crawford said, "Ran, start over, what happened?"

"She said she needed to pee, she'd drunk all my tea as well as her own, and I wanted her to wash all that sugar off her hands, so she went in there –" he indicated the fast food seller behind them.

"You didn't go with her?" Schuldig said.

"I wasn't going into the toilet with her!" Ran said angrily. "Some of us are decent!"

Crawford saw the blow coming before Schuldig had properly started it, and managed to grab his first officer's arm. It would have made Ran flee, and two runaway, hysterical navigators were not what he needed. "And she didn't come out?" he said, staring Schuldig down.

"No, Captain," Ran said. He was so wound up Crawford wasn't sure he'd even noticed the threatened blow. "They said there isn't a back door – there has to be, though, hasn't there? Why would they lie to me? Why did she run?"

"I'm in control of myself, you can let go," Schuldig said quietly to Crawford. He took Ran's hand tightly. "Keep calm, I need to concentrate –" He looked up. "Right, she didn't look like she wanted to run, she just looked like she actually wanted to use the toilet. Ran, we need you to stay calm, we're going in to see what we can find out. You need to stick close. Do _not_ leave our side."

"You're not in trouble," Crawford said, though it grated to say it. _Gods-damned navs_ , he thought. _Stupid, addled-brained, expensive little assholes_. He shoved the door open and went in. The interior was brightly lit, and cheerful music blared from cheap speakers. The young men and the older woman behind the counter looked at him and Schuldig warily.

"A girl came in here to use the toilet about –" Crawford started.

" – ten minutes ago," Ran said.

"- and she didn't come out. I'd like to know where she is."

"Toilets are for customers only," the woman said. "I told that kid when he asked. No girl came in just to use the toilet."

"You said that when I brought her in here! I had to buy one of your damn burgers!"

"He's one of those spaceship navigators," one of the young men said. "They're off their faces on drugs all the time. We don't want that sort of person in here."

"A skinny girl, about this tall," Schuldig said, holding his hand up. "Her hair is cut short, it's sort of dark blond with bits of blue here and there. She talks in an odd way. She's got violet eyes, like this guy. She's worth almost a thousand shares, and if you don't start talking, friends, then the Lord Captain here is just going to have to sue you for her worth, isn't he?"

"What? We've done nothing wrong –" the woman said, looking between him and Crawford in alarm.

 _She knows something, she's worried._ Schuldig gave her a level, threatening stare before turning politely to Crawford. "Captain –"

"I assure you, woman, I can afford better lawyers," Crawford said. He leant on the counter and looked around. "I'm not sure your establishment will cover the cost of my navigator and my legal expenses once I've won the case. One of you will probably have to be sold as a debt-chattel." 

"Shit," the other young man said, "Auntie, it's not worth it, they only gave us _ten_ -"

Schuldig smiled, very gently. "You were saying?"

* * *

"We should call the police," Ran said again, as Crawford pulled him back out of view behind a wall. The house they had under surveillance was very ordinary, just a plain house in a residential street. The idea of having enough space for a house with a tiny, unkempt garden in front of it was exotic enough, of course, Crawford thought, given that he'd lived so much of his life in space. But he supposed this example was perfectly ordinary – there was nothing at all to indicate the presence of a kidnapped girl, or her captors.

"You must have had a sheltered upbringing," Schuldig said. "Those burger-slinging fools had every intention of calling these bastards to warn them. By the time we convinced the police to get here there'd be nothing to find. Besides, don't you want us to save her before they do anything too nasty to her pretty little body?"

Ran flinched at that, and Crawford got a tight hold on his shoulders to stop him doing anything rash; he just kept quiet, however. It seemed he wasn't in the mood for taking a swing at Schuldig this time.

"How much time do you think you bought us before they do contact their friends?" Crawford asked.

"They won't have done it yet, but they'll snap out of my influence soon enough." Schuldig checked his comm. "Jens is almost here, Farfarello's still not answering, damn him."

"He's scheduled to be on the ship – he'd never get here in time anyway. Nagi?"

"On his way. And agitated."

"I see. Maybe we're going to have another house screamed to pieces."

Schuldig grimaced. They all remembered that incident vividly.

"What do you mean?" Ran said. "How are we going to get Nanami out?" He turned in Crawford's grasp. "Is the First Officer right, Captain? Are they raping her?"

Crawford shook his head, keeping his expression calm. "Don't think about that," he said. As clearly as he could, he thought, _Schuldig, for the love of all the gods, take a look at him. You've set him off._ Schuldig's face made it clear what he thought of that, but they didn't argue in public.

"Ran," Schuldig said, "come over here. No, it's all right, come here, I've something to say, First Officer to Nav."

Ran looked up at Crawford and was obviously not pleased to get an encouraging nod. He reluctantly stepped over beside Schuldig.

"You're doing fine," Schuldig said, in the calm voice he always used when he was getting Ran ready for jump. "You're not to blame for anything those fuckers do to her. What they'll want is to sell her, and get the best price, right? They're not going to traumatise her and make her seem less stable than she is, they wouldn't get as much. We're going to get her back, all right?"

"This is all because I was annoyed that her hands were sticky with sugar," Ran said. "It's not her fault, I should have –"

"Stop. Leave this to us. We know what we're doing. You stay close to the house, but don't get in our way," Schuldig said, his voice still calm and even. He smiled reassuringly, patting Ran's shoulder. "The Captain and I have a lot of experience in this sort of thing. What we need from you right now is for you to keep your mind on the here and now, in case something happens out here, all right? It won't do you any good to be thinking about anything that could hypothetically be happening somewhere else. Do you understand?"

"Yes, First Officer," Ran said. "I _do_ feel a bit more focused now."

"Good boy," Schuldig said, and winked at Crawford. His comm made a soft beep and he rolled his eyes as he read the message. "Farfarello – he's just woken up from a nap. He wants to know if we can delay the killing until he gets here. Asshole. At least Jens will soon be -"

"- here," Crawford said, and pointed to the far corner. A second later Jens came round it at a jog, speeding up as he approached. 

"What the hells happened?" he said. "You really lost Nanami?"

"She was stolen by the bastards in that house. Who may or may not be armed, and we don't know how many there are of them," Schuldig said. 

"We'll go in front and back," Crawford said. "I want someone nondescript and harmless in appearance for the front, to get them to answer the door."

"Ran?" Jens said.

"I'll do it," Ran said, eager for adventure or to atone for losing Nanami, Crawford thought.

"I'm not risking both navigators," he said, "you're staying outside. You're hardly nondescript, with your hair and eyes. Jens –"

"Gods, thanks. Fine, I'll be Civilian Lost-and-Innocent."

 _Danger_. Crawford looked up in alarm, pulling Ran and Jens hard against the wall. Schuldig's fast reflexes had him flattening himself beside them as a local vehicle sped round the corner and squealed to a stop, barely missing them. Nagi erupted from the driver's seat, his face dark with anger.

"Where the fuck are they keeping her?"

"Where did you get – this?" Schuldig said, looking at the vehicle in distaste. "It looks old enough to have a fucking internal combustion engine."

"Borrowed it," Nagi said. " _Where?_ "

He was still in control, Crawford thought, although that might not last much longer. Once Nagi started to get angry things tended to escalate quickly. They might have to let him crush one of the kidnappers to calm down, which was irritating.

"We're not looking to kill them," he said. "Not unless it's really necessary, do you understand, Nagi? We don't need to get ourselves noticed. It's a pity you stole that – whatever the hells it is. Right – Jens, front door, five minutes. Schuldig, Nagi, with me around to the back. Ran, stay with this heap of junk. Let's go." 

The street of houses backed onto another, each with small gardens behind them, a narrow laneway dividing them. It was an unbelievable wealth of space, each of the rooms that Crawford could see through windows larger than the cabins and storerooms for the crew of the _Rose_. It wasn't even, he knew, one of the wealthier parts of Tulleerin City. He tried for a moment to imagine living in such huge rooms and found he couldn't – he simply couldn't remember what it had been like. He shook such irrelevancies from his mind and gestured to the others. 

"Move in on Schuldig's mark."

"Jens is at the door," Schuldig said, his eyes focused on nothing Crawford could see. "One man answering – trying to get rid of him – two others coming into the hall to see what's up – move in!"

Getting over the wall and across the unkempt garden was a matter of seconds. The back door was locked, but it was a flimsy affair, and Nagi merely had to place his hand flat against it for the door to swing open, the frame cracking.

"What the fuck?" the man in the kitchen doorway said, turning, going for a weapon in his belt. 

Crawford took him down before he had finished turning around, while Jens shoved the front door into the face of the man standing there, and Schuldig eeled past to slam an elbow into the throat of the third man, who had lost precious time by looking in confusion between the front and back doors. As he swayed, Schuldig punched him twice between the eyes and swept his feet from under him.

"Where's the girl?" Crawford said, his face close to that of the man he had on the ground. He pulled the arm he had hold of higher, twisted it, and the fool shrieked. "Where is she?" Crawford said, patiently. The babble of "Stop!" and "Please!", and "I don't know!" from all angles was irritating, so he looked over at Jens, saying clearly, "Jens, yours is a loud moron, make a point."

"Sir," Jens said, not sounding too pleased. There was a distinct smell of ozone, and the man in Jens' grasp jerked hard, his head slamming back into the wall. He sank down onto the stained, thin carpet, silent at last.

Crawford lessened the pressure on his captive's arm. "Answer my question," he said. "You took a young navigator girl from a café in the market. Where is she?"

"Oh gods, you killed Renn and Canner," the man said, his eyes darting from the sprawled form at Jens' feet to the battered one at Schuldig's. "Don't kill me, please, don't kill me."

"They're not dead yet, and you won't be either if you answer the question," Crawford said.

"Upstairs," Schuldig said, as the man whimpered in incoherent fear. "With another one – no, two of them."

Nagi had vaulted over them onto the stairs before he had finished speaking. He ran up, his desire to do damage all too obvious.

"Dammit," Crawford muttered, as foreboding struck him, and dropped his prisoner. "Jens, secure him," he said, running after Nagi, Schuldig on his heels. A doorway, left and right, both doors simply blown open, hanging loose on their hinges. Empty. The third room was bigger, Nagi stalking forward, his slender, small size not distracting from the sense of menace. Crawford took in the two kidnappers, a man and a woman, Nanami struggling in the man's grasp, his hand over her mouth, as the woman opened the window. They were going out a front window; so much for not attracting attention.

"Give her to me," Nagi said, his voice shaking.

Crawford supposed it sounded like he was scared, if you didn't know it was from the effort of simply not killing everyone in the room.

"Fuck off," the man said. "Go on, Talli, get out."

"No one's going anywhere," Crawford said.

"Stay where you are or I'll break this little bitch's neck!"

"Everyone, calm down," Schuldig said. "You – Talli, right? – come on, step back from the window, yes, that's it –"

The woman turned towards him, her face confused as she obediently took one step back and another.

"We just want the girl, no one has to get hurt," Crawford said, as Nagi said,

"If you've fucked her you'll be more than fucking _hurt._ "

"Don't lose your temper," Crawford said urgently, alarm flickering.

"She's so fucking slack she didn't even notice. You bastards must be pounding away at her day and night," the man sneered. Nanami got an arm free and did her best to claw his hand down from her face. He yelled, and shook her hard. "Bite  
me again and I _will_ kill you, you little nav bitch."

Crawford risked a glance at Nagi. The blood had drained from his cheeks and his expression had switched horribly obviously over to _fight_. There was a beat as Nagi drew breath and –

"Down!" Crawford yelled. Schuldig dropped to the carpet beside him.

\- all the glass in the window flew in, shards embedding themselves in the walls and doorframe like knives. Crawford felt his ears pop as the air pressure in the room returned to normal and he cautiously raised his head. Nanami was standing in the centre of the room, shaking, her eyes wide. The kidnappers were down, the man bleeding out, the woman probably as bad.

"Don't talk to her like that," Nagi said softly, as if the kidnapper could hear him. His eyes snapped into focus on Nanami. "Nanami, it's all right, you're safe now."

"What did he do?" she moaned, looking around at the glass and the blood-soaked carpet. "What did he do?"

"It's all right, I kept you safe! They were just bad people, but I wouldn't have let you be hurt." Nagi went forward, his hands out. "Come on, it's all right."

"Nagi, careful," Crawford said, getting to his feet.

"She's terrified," Schuldig said, jumping up. "Easy, Nanami, you know us, there's my good girl."

Nanami backed away as Nagi approached, whimpering as her foot touched Talli's prone form.

"She has blood on her shoe," she said, looking down at her feet. Then, before Nagi could take her arm she bent to touch Talli, recoiled in horror, and broke for the window.

"Nanami!" Nagi and Schuldig yelled in unison as she hoisted herself up and jumped.

"Why didn't you stop her?" Nagi said rounding on Schuldig.

"I tried – very strong emotions can act as a defence against mental influence, you know that. They don't defend against fucking telekinesis though, so why didn't _you_ stop her?"

"I didn't want to frighten her more," Nagi said defensively.

"Stop bickering," Crawford said, looking out at how Nanami was limping away. "She hasn't killed herself, let's retrieve her. Schuldig, can you make those fools downstairs think they did this?"

"I can try," he said. 

"Come on," Crawford said to Nagi. He led the way down the stairs, just shaking his head at Jens' quizzical expression, and out into the street. "You said you were working on your temper," he said when they were alone.

"I very rarely lose my temper these days, be fair," Nagi said. "And that wasn't much, not like before."

"Still, an expensive asset threw herself out of an upstairs window to get away from you. That's not a good retrieval mission, Naoe."

"No, sir."

"All right," Crawford said. "She went down this street." He rounded the corner and sighed as he saw Ran scurry towards a distant vehicle, a massive goods transport. "Gods. Can't he obey just _once_?"

"He wants to be useful," Nagi said. "He's worried about losing himself to the drugs."

"I didn't buy him as a gods-damned ornament; he'll take the drugs when Schuldig tells him to," Crawford said in irritation, then made himself stop talking. He would not, he told himself, discuss the matter with his teenage engineer.

"Nanami," Ran said, looking under the transport vehicle, "please come out of there."

"I told you to wait in the other street for us," Crawford said as they came closer. 

"I saw her run, she climbed under here," Ran said. He got down on the ground and inched under the transport. "Nanami? It's all right to come out, the Captain wants you to. We could get some sweets – ah!"

"Ran? Get out of there," Crawford said. Ran's sound of surprised pain worried him. "Nagi, get him out."

Nagi looked around and hunkered down, gesturing. Ran slid out faster and smoother than he'd wriggled in. His left forearm was covered in blood, the sleeve soaked. 

"Shit," Crawford said, shoving the sleeve up and seeing the deep, slanting edges of the cut, right across the veins. "She got a knife."

"I think it's a piece of glass," Ran said, looking at his arm in horrified fascination as the blood poured out. "My hand won't work. I can't close my fingers." He was already looking faint, though Crawford hoped it was merely from the sight of his own blood. 

"Sit down, and keep that gods' damned arm _up_ ," he snapped, taking off his belt. A tourniquet could be as much trouble as it was help, but he wasn't going to let a navigator die in front of him if he could prevent it. Not at Ran's price. He tightened the belt around Ran's upper arm and activated his comm's connection to local emergency service providers.

"Emergency medical aid to this comm's coordinates, fastest arrival time. Yes, damn it, I can afford it, I'm the captain of the merchant ship _Rose_ , I'm insured." He reeled off a description of Ran's injury, before turning back to the others.

"She won't come out," Nagi said. "I can pull her out, Captain."

Crawford loosened Ran's tourniquet for a few moments, watching the blood begin to flow from the wound again. "Keep the arm up," he said. "Help's coming." He shook his head at Nagi. "Your instinct not to scare her further was correct – get Schuldig down here, he'll get her out." He turned back to Ran, who was pale and bathed in a chill sweat. "You're doing fine. You'll be all right. Take even breaths; good, good."

"It's not her fault," Ran said in a thin, tight voice. "I was the one who got her into this. I shouldn't have let them take her. She's frightened, Captain; she didn't mean to hurt me."

"I know," Crawford said, keeping his views to himself on what Nanami meant when she had a knife. He tightened the tourniquet again, helping Ran support the arm. "You can lean against me if you need to. If you're feeling sleepy I want you to talk to me, do you understand?"

After a moment, Ran started talking. "My sister used to be so light-hearted," he said. "She'd never do anything I said, when she was a kid she'd always pull away if I tried to hold her hand when we crossed a street. And she was, she was – so pretty – I used to worry about her, but . . . and . . ." His voice died away.

"What's her name?" Crawford said. "Ran? What's your sister's name?"

"Aya," Ran said, seemingly by reflex. "I told her I'd pay the hospital bills, I'd make sure she didn't have to worry –"

"That's right. So you took yourself off to a merchant who dealt with space crews, remember?"

"I think he cheated me," Ran said, looking up in alarm. "Captain, did I get paid?"

"I went to the hospital myself," Crawford said. "I paid your sister's bills. Nagi, where in all the hells is Schuldig?"

"Says he can't do ten gods-fucked things at once and he'll be here soon, Captain. Sorry, Captain, his words." 

Crawford let it go, concentrating on monitoring Ran's wound and on making sure that Nanami didn't make a break for freedom. He looked down the road, hearing the approaching siren a second later. Another moment and the emergency vehicle was in view, Nagi stepping into the road to flag it down.

Two medics jumped out, running to Ran, asking questions.

"Another navigator panicked and attacked him," Crawford said. "She sliced his arm open."

"Yeah," the older woman swabbing the blood from the wound said. "She did a nasty job. Hold still, lad, she got your veins and nerves." She started spraying antibacterials and sealants into the wound.

Crawford looked around to see Schuldig jogging up.

"All done, as much as I could," Schuldig said. 

_They'll remember a rival's enforcers_ , Crawford heard in his mind and nodded at Nanami's hiding place.

"She's under there – think you can persuade her to come out? She's armed with a shard of glass; all that blood is Ran's."

"Great," Schuldig said. He hunkered down to peer under the goods transport. "Hey in there, it's me, Schuldig, the first officer, remember me? Come on out and talk to me, pretty thing, no one will hurt you."

"When you get her out we can put her down for you," the woman said, turning Ran's arm this way and that, looking at her work in satisfaction. She peered at him in surprise as he pulled away from her grasp. 

"Captain! You're not going to – please, Captain, you know she didn't mean to-" his voice ran down to nothing as the medic pressed a hypospray against his neck. He staggered, looking confused as the medic caught him and held him steady.

"No point in letting him get hysterical; he's anxious enough as it is," she said, and finished cleaning his arm. "He's pretty aware of his surroundings, isn't he?"

"He's new to this," Crawford said. "We'll handle the girl, thank you."

The medics looked at him, and at each other in definite disapproval.

"We'd do it humanely," the younger woman said. "There are regulations about proper treatment of slaves here, you know."

"I'm sure," Crawford said. "No offence, ladies, but we'll deal with ship's property as we see fit. My first officer will get her calmed down soon enough, there's no need to talk about euthanizing her."

"None at all," Schuldig called out cheerfully, from halfway under the transport. A high-pitched sobbing could now be heard from somewhere under it, retreating from him. Nagi was looking angry again; Crawford took a deep, calming breath, and smiled at the medics.

"I know you probably paid a lot for her, but you know you can't expect them to improve once they get violently unstable," the older medic said, her eyes on what was visible of Schuldig. "I expect we'll be fixing him up next." She took Ran's hand and gently pulled him towards their vehicle. "It's their funeral," she muttered to her colleague. "This poor lad's out of danger, but the nerves and the navigation implant have been severed. We can't deal with that here; he needs to come in for a transfusion and surgery. Are you _sure_ your officer is all right, there?"

"He's very good at dealing with navigators, he knows what he's doing," Crawford said, giving Nagi a quelling look. "He doesn't need any help." If the little bastard even _thought_ about lifting the gods-fucked transport up in public, he thought, there would be several hells' worth of extra duty coming his way for _years_. Nagi raised an eyebrow, seeming to have caught mindspeech, and put his hands behind his back, shifting insolently into parade rest. Crawford turned his attention back to the medics. "Shall we go? Schuldig, I'm leaving you in command."

"Right," Schuldig yelled from deep beneath the transport. His voice dropped back down to a comforting, persuasive rhythm, the words indistinct.

"Wait for Jens," Crawford said to Nagi, and took Ran by the upper arm. "Come on, Ran."

The younger woman drove while the older sat in the back of the emergency vehicle with them. She made Ran lie down, putting a monitor patch over his heart.

"You'll be fine," she said, smiling. To Crawford she said, "Do you want him on continual sedation?"

"No, he'll be all right once he's rested for a while," Crawford said.

"If you're sure. Let's deal with your cuts, then."

"Mine?" Crawford said. He raised a hand to his head and felt his hair sticky with blood. "It's nothing serious."

"If you please, Lord Captain – " She swabbed the scratches on his face, cleaned the blood and took a few shards of glass from his hair before spraying the cleaned scratches with antibacterials and skin sealant. "She broke a window, did she?"

"Quite a big one," Crawford said, hoping he sounded as rueful and sheepish as a civilian merchant surely should. He sat back and kept his eyes on Ran, who was looking up at the roof with confused misery.

"It's all superficial, you were a lot luckier than your navigator here."

"I'm generally lucky."

They entered the hospital grounds and drew up beside a large, relatively pleasant-looking building. The medic helped Crawford get Ran out, and insisted that he be put into a wheelchair. Crawford looked at the chair, at the large number of well-tended flowers under the hospital windows, and saw the incidental charges increasing before his eyes.

"You can walk, _he's_ had significant blood loss and isn't walking anywhere," the medic said before he could say anything. "We all have our areas of competence; you'll allow me to have mine?"

"Please," Crawford said, "lead on."

They were left in a small waiting room, the walls painted an inoffensive pale blue, decorated with images of what Crawford thought were perhaps local beauty spots.

"The doctors will see you both as quickly as possible," the medic said. "Please don't give him any water; it's very unlikely that he'll be given a general anesthetic, but just in case, all right?"

"Thank you," Crawford said, and settled back to wait. He hoped it wouldn't be long. It had better not be, he thought. The only other person waiting, a man in his forties, made brief eye-contact and thereafter kept careful watch only on whatever dreadful drama he was watching on his datapad. He really needed better sound controls on the thing, Crawford thought in irritation. Every inane piece of romantic dialogue was all too audible.

"Captain," Ran said quietly, beside him, "Captain, don't kill her."

"Feeling more awake? Good. Don't worry about anything except getting out of here quickly."

Ran covered his eyes with his uninjured hand. "Shit," he muttered, shaking, "shit. I fucked up my sister's life and I've fucked up Nanami's. Don't, Captain, it was my fault, not hers."

"What," Crawford said, "so I should have you put down?" He rolled his eyes at Ran's flinch. "By all the gods, boy, don't be an idiot. No one's being put down; I don't want you obsessing about this, do you hear me? Am I wasteful? Am I the sort of man who throws away assets? Well?"

"I – suppose not," Ran said mistrustfully.

"So you can be sure she'll be there when you're better. Sit in one of these chairs, they're more comfortable."

Ran obeyed, looking at him sidelong. "I bled on your sleeve," he said. "Sorry. And your collar? How'd I do that?"

"That's all mine, apparently," Crawford said. "Not your fault, so keep calm about it." He put a hand on the back of Ran's head, stroking his hair. 

Ran shifted away. "Stop. What are you doing?"

"It's meant to be comforting."

"I don't find it comforting. Captain."

"Who said it was meant to be for you?"

Ran looked at him in utter confusion as the man in the chair opposite sank down deeper in an air of studied non-eavesdropping. Crawford fought the urge to laugh at them both.

"You're making a _joke_ ," Ran said in tones of such offence that Crawford _did_ laugh. "Give a signal like a _smile_ or something the next time."

"I'll take it under advisement," Crawford said, looking up at the doorway to see a dark-haired woman carrying a datapad watching them.

"Captain Crawford?" she said, smiling at him.

"Yes," Crawford said. "Does my navigator still need the chair?"

"He shouldn't really have got out of it," she said, coming over and slipping her pad into a pocket of her jacket. "Back here, please – Ran, is it? We're just going to this room over here." She pushed the chair to the room she indicated, Crawford beside her.

"I'm Dr Lakeman," she said, sitting down. "You were both involved in an incident with another of your navigators, Captain Crawford? Your own injuries are reported here as superficial, although Ran suffered more extensively. Ran, let me see your arm, please. Is he likely to panic?"

"No, I'm not," Ran said, holding out his arm.

She looked at him a little sceptically, but took his hand and ran a scanner over the site of the injury. "He's out of danger; I wouldn't have expected anything else with our response team. He'll need a transfusion, as they assessed, and we can install a new implant when we do the nerve-repair surgery. He'll be staying in overnight, if that's acceptable?"

"Yes, of course," Crawford said. He held obediently still as she checked him in turn, refusing to wince as she parted his hair to reveal the scratches to the medical scanner.

"I'm afraid it's just your dignity that took a beating," she said, smiling. "You don't need anything more than the response team already provided. Do you think Ran will be all right here without any of your crew? Ran, do you need any of them to stay with you? I'm sure your captain could send someone in."

"I'll be fine," he said quickly. "You don't need to bother the first officer, Captain."

"I'm sure he'll be glad of that," Crawford said solemnly. "When will you schedule the surgery, Doctor?"

"He'll go down within an hour," she said. "We can do it under local or general anesthetic, as you prefer."

"Can you stay calm enough for them to do the work under local?" Crawford said.

Ran nodded. "They used a general anesthetic for the implants at home – I felt like shit afterwards." He gave them both a bitter smile. "On top of feeling like shit."

"Where did he get the weapons' scar from?" Dr Lakeman asked after a moment.

"A brawl," Crawford said. "I fully accept that he should have been kept further from trouble."

"It looks like an energy weapon burn," she said. "Quite a brawl. Ran? Do you need to add anything?"

"No," he said. "I'm not making complaints against my captain, if that's what you're asking. _Proper treatment_ of slaves means _painless euthanasia_ , or so we were told earlier. I prefer the treatment I already get, thank you for asking, Doctor."

She blinked. Crawford kept a mild expression on his face, amused to see someone else get a taste of Ran's opinions. 

"You're an unusual young man," she said at last. "I assure you the proper treatment you'll get here will be the best of medical care. That scar tissue might not bother you now, but I doubt you've been taking much care of the area once it first healed. It could leave you with difficulties in full movement of your head and neck as you age. Captain Crawford, if you agree, we can also work on that area – yes? - please sign here to authorize the surgery –" She held out her pad and a stylus, and Crawford signed where she indicated. "If you send someone tomorrow afternoon," she said, "Ran can be discharged then."

"Very well," he said, rising. Gods, he thought, even with insurance this was going to cost a fortune. Perhaps he should send Farfarello around to the insurance company's offices to make an argument for why they should pay the excess on the policy. People tended to listen to Farfarello when he laid out things logically. He squeezed Ran's shoulder. "Be good." As Ran looked up, irritated, he leant over, murmuring, "Remember, ship's business is _ship's_ business."

"Captain," Ran muttered in a tone of barely civil acquiescence.

"See you tomorrow," Crawford said. "If he gets too annoying, Dr Lakeman, keep him sedated."

She looked amused at Ran's disgusted expression. Crawford nodded politely to her and left.

* * *

Schuldig looked very young and somehow innocent, Crawford thought, freshly scrubbed and dressed in casual, clean clothes. He collapsed onto the bed and grimaced.

"Fuck, I am paying for something considerably softer than this. Are you _sure_ you want to get Ran back tomorrow? It was a gods' shit of a mess getting Nanami out of there, but at least she doesn't _argue_."

"Don't tempt me," Crawford said. "How heavily sedated is she?"

"Out of it," Schuldig said. He propped himself up, scrutinizing Crawford. "Yeah, you're fine, you needn't worry that your profile is ruined by scars."

"Please. I'm not the vain one. You dropped so fast that you didn't even get your hair parted by the wind of the implosion."

Schuldig laughed. "I took her to a smaller clinic – I didn't think she needed the same level of coddling as Ran. Seeing as you don't like her that way." He sniggered at Crawford's expression. "A few bruises - on her wrists - for example. She fought them, good girl. Some scrapes, from the road surface. And it wasn't just one of the bastards' DNA in her mouth. Actual bits of flesh between her teeth from an earlier bite."

"I didn't see anyone with that level of injury visible," Crawford said.

"I guess that fucker was lucky and missed us. Oh, and our little Nav - no vaginal or anal trauma, and I couldn't find any recent bad memories. Maybe she bit someone's dick off. That'd certainly give the others pause for thought." Schuldig sat up, running his fingers through his still-damp hair. "Remember that skirmish at Affane, that insurgent girl on the station? That's what I imagine our little Nanami was like with those bastards."

"Gods, yeah, she was hilarious," Crawford said. "What a temper. Pity we had to put a burst through her skull. Anyway, let's see the runaway."

Schuldig opened the inner door and gestured at the bed. Nanami lay quietly, her breathing shallow and regular, her arms and hands bruised and scratched, a deep bruise shadowing her forehead.

"Where'd she get those?" Crawford said. "I don't remember them from the house."

"Bashed her head on the underside of that damn transport," Schuldig said. "The scrapes and scratches are from that and the road, like I said - as are mine, thanks for asking. She had some glass cuts on her hand because of her nice, shiny weapon. She'll be all right; she's just tired. How do you feel about babysitting tonight?"

"What? No. I was planning on going out and finding someone to fuck as stress relief."

"Huh," Schuldig said. "That was my plan too. I'm not leaving her by herself, gods only know what she'd do if she woke up and didn't know where she was. Actually, give me a few minutes, I'm going to see if I can get under the drugs and send her deeper asleep, just in case. We'll still need someone to babysit - we can't leave her with Nagi –"

"Good gods, no. He looked like _he_ needed a minder when I talked to him. And if he was more awake I wouldn't trust him near her."

" – so," Schuldig said, picking up his comm, "Hi, Jens! How'd you like me to owe you a favour?"

Crawford tugged the bedcovers from beneath Nanami and covered her. Schuldig leaned against the doorframe, his call finished.

"He's on his way. He says he's going to order everything he can on my room service. We're free for the night - we haven't gone out together for too long, Crawford. Let's find someone to share, what do you think?"

"That didn't work so well the last time," Crawford said, his eyes still on Nanami. He straightened the covers neatly. Schuldig came in and gave the sheets beneath her a quick tug, as if making sure no wrinkle would cause irritation to a navigator about to enter jump.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, off-hand. "No one has to die this time. Come on, let's find someone pretty and give them a night they wish they could forget!"

"Just as soon as Jens gets here," Crawford said, feeling his spirits lightening. A night out with a good friend was just what he needed to cheer him up.

* * *

Crawford woke a second before his comm chimed the alarm he could only dimly remember setting the previous night. He sat up, reaching out blindly for the drawer of the bedside cabinet, feeling mild alarm when he couldn't find it. He squinted blearily at the room and was relieved to see he had made it back to his own hotel room – he leaned over to check the floor – alone. Schuldig could deal with the potential embarrassment from last night's pick-up by himself. Schuldig even _enjoyed_ dealing with that sort of thing. Where was the damned cabinet? Ah. On the other side of the bed. He carefully rolled over and fumbled in the drawer until he managed to extract one of the complimentary anti-nausea and pain-killing patches. He applied it and lay down again until it started to take effect. Gods' mercy, he was never drinking like that again.

Thirty minutes later he was at Schuldig's door, showered, shaved and respectable as any business partner could wish. The door opened immediately at his knock, admitting him to a view of a horribly bright and cheerful Schuldig braiding back his hair, and Nanami sitting cross-legged on the bed, eating sweets and watching a children's cartoon with deep concentration.

" _Good_ morning," Schuldig said, checking his reflection. "And how are we this fine morning?"

"Very well. Any problems in the goodbyes?"

"Strangely, no. Why'd you go so early? You should have stuck around for the repeat performance. I got back in plenty of time for a quick nap before my shower." Schuldig winked at him in the mirror, then nodded in satisfaction at his reflection. "Ready to haggle for cargo? We can grab something to eat on the way."

"She won't let go of their hands," Nanami said, her eyes still on the screen.

"Good girl," Schuldig said. "But it's all right, the crew will be taking care of you."

Crawford smiled at her as she looked at him, her violet eyes troubled. "You'll be fine. Don't worry."

"She bit the bad man. The first officer said she was good."

"I sure did. You bite all the bad men you want."

"She didn't mean to kill her own crew," she said. "Just bad men, like her daddy and the man with the hat."

Schuldig shrugged behind her. 

"She didn't mean it. She didn't mean to kill her cousin. Or that boy."

"Up we get," Schuldig said merrily. "Time to brush your teeth! No time now to be sad; remember how I told you that you didn't kill him?"

"The bad men killed that boy," she said, seeming happier. "She didn't do it?"

"Teeth!" Schuldig said, herding her into the bathroom. They re-emerged quickly, Nanami still expounding on her theory in her childish voice. 

"Let's drop you off," Crawford said, patting her on her head, "and go and do some business."

* * *

Crawford checked the location of Ran's comm and called up a plan of the hospital. The sixth floor was accessible by numerous public elevators, thank all the gods. He wouldn't have to stand in ever-growing frustration watching hospital-use-only elevators open to show one passenger while a solitary public one was always too full to allow him to enter.

On the sixth floor he strolled to Ran's room and stopped, seeing the door slightly ajar, caught on a dropped drinks container. He frowned at such slovenly housekeeping. About to enter, he heard his own name and paused. The doctor, Lakeman, he thought, was leaning against the wall by the opening.

"- send someone else," Ran said in reply. "Why would my _Captain_ come for me?"

"Isn't he sleeping with you?" Lakeman said. Crawford grinned at Ran's spluttered protestations. "You and he seemed very familiar, yesterday," she said.

"He's my _ship's captain_ ," Ran said eventually, in disgust. "How could you think – he _owns_ me."

"Yes," Lakeman said. Crawford heard her move something in the room. "That's why I had him sign the consent forms, not you. That's got nothing to do with any personal relationship he may have with you. There's no need to look at me like that; I've treated plenty of rich people's slaves before you and I'll treat them after you. It's not a rare situation, and sometimes it's even welcomed by the slaves."

"Sometimes," Ran echoed. "That makes it all right, does it?"

"It's hardly a bad thing to try and find some measure of contentment if one can. I know you'd rather have signed the consent forms yourself, but be sensible. You needed care, he had to sign for it. It's the law. You of all people should know that."

Ran muttered something low and ungracious. Crawford put his hand on the door, unwilling to loiter any longer and be caught eavesdropping in such an undignified manner. He paused as Lakeman said sharply,

"I'll tell you what I know, young man – how much do you think it costs to get medical training in this city? The only way to do it is to indenture yourself. Most of the doctors and nurses you've been glaring at are owned now or were owned previously by this hospital, including that man who tried to give you your lunch. Do you think I don't know you threw the drink at him?" Her voice moved away from the door as if she had stepped over to admonish Ran from closer to his bed. "There are plenty of poor people waiting for hours down in the public clinics that I'd rather be working in right now, but _you_ , you ungrateful boy, are covered by your crew's medical policy, which stipulates a fully-qualified doctor attending you. Stop thinking you're mistreated because it's not your signature on the forms. None of the people who treated you can make _any_ contracts, including marrying, during their period of indenture."

"I'm melting my fucking brain, doing this work!" Ran yelled. "That's mistreatment!"

Crawford pursed his lips and put a hand against the entrance panel. The door slid fully open, showing him Lakeman standing at the foot of the bed, Ran sitting bolt upright and glaring at her.

"Doctor," he said. "I see you have the pleasure of my navigator in full flight."

"He's not entirely wrong," she said brusquely. She picked up a datapad and held it out. "The new implant was embedded without any problems. There'll be some tenderness, he shouldn't scratch around the new port –"

"I can hear you," Ran said.

"Shut up or I'll have you sedated," Crawford said, not looking at him. Ran subsided, muttering.

"He should use a mild hydrocortisone cream for any discomfort or itch, and a steroid cream on the area of the removed scar tissue," Lakeman said, as if neither of them had spoken. "I'm sending the script to the pharmacy beside the main entrance, you can pick up a supply there. Similar formulations are widely available. He shouldn't make jump for at least a week."

"That's fine," Crawford said. "We'll be here at least that long, and we do have another navigator. He can rest on the trip out."

"You really didn't kill her," Lakeman said. "Good."

"Really?" Ran said from the bed, pleased.

"I told you," Crawford said. "She's fine." He signed where Lakeman indicated. "Thank you, Doctor. May I take him now?"

"If you would," she said. And, as Ran eagerly opened the bag of clothes Crawford tossed onto the bed and began to dress, she added quietly, "How long were you outside?"

"I just got here," Crawford said blandly. "Ran, brush your hair, it's a mess. Now come on, we've taken up enough of the doctor's time." Ran straightened his sweater and obediently came over to stand by his side. "Thank you, Doctor," Crawford said again, and walked out of the room, Ran with him.

"Thank you," Ran said, suddenly stopping and turning. "I'm sorry. Thank you."

"Goodbye," Lakeman said. "Good luck, Ran."

The pharmacy was busy, but the line of people waiting for medication moved quickly, and Crawford was soon given two tubes of cream. 

"Here," he said, handing them to Ran. "Don't be afraid to use it, there's plenty. Don't get it inside your ports. You used the one for the skin before, when the implants were first put in, didn't you?"

"For a day. Then the merchant said I should be over it," Ran said. "He was a cheap bastard. How's Nanami?"

"Fine, like I said. She's been asking after you." 

"You don't have to make things sound better than they are, Captain. There's no one here to impress."

"Don't be rude. She _has_ been asking after you. _Is that boy dead? She didn't mean to kill that boy._ Nagi's been worried about you too, said he hopes you're still operational."

"Well, that's nice," Ran said, sounding deeply offended, like he'd hoped for better from Nagi.

"Because if you weren't, of course, you wouldn't be coming back on-board," Crawford said patiently. "Don't be so quick to assume the worst."

"Of a Black Unit agent," Ran muttered.

Crawford cuffed him lightly on the back of the head. "Former," he said. "And his manners are no worse than yours."

"Gods," Ran muttered, "you're right. I'm – sorry, Captain, I didn't mean to be rude about the engineer. I was rude in the hospital too. Sorry about that as well." He looked morosely at the ground as he walked.

"It's normal to feel like shit after the medics have been at you," Crawford said. "Everyone gets bad tempered, but you need to get it under control; it's not like you're going back into combat. So cheer up, you're alive. Everyone's alive; no one's hurt past a few easily fixed things, Nanami's unsettled but basically fine. A few bruises and scrapes, no signs of sexual abuse."

"You took her to hospital too?"

"Schuldig took her."

"You let _him_ -"

"Ran. It's his job. He's in charge of navigational matters. He took her to medical personnel and they checked her out. He hasn't laid one finger on her, or on you since I talked to him, that hasn't been strictly to do with his duty. He won't."

"How do you know?" Ran said.

"I've known him long enough," Crawford said, gesturing to stop a transport for hire. "I know. Now, we're going to go to my hotel, you can get settled in, then you can rest, or see Nagi, if you like –"

That _did_ cheer him up, he thought, watching Ran forget to be bad-tempered. He was happy to be out of hospital, that much was obvious, and pleased by his arm's return to full strength. He flexed his fingers and peered at his forearm when he thought Crawford wasn't looking, and felt at the burn scar, now lessened almost to nothing. In the hotel he put his blood-stained clothes and the tubes of cream neatly away and looked expectantly at Crawford, as if awaiting entertainment.

"We'll get something to eat shortly," Crawford said.

"Good, I don't like hospital food. It turns out to be shit on any world."

"Terribly sorry, Lord Navigator," Crawford said. "I'll make a booking in a better establishment at once." Ran narrowed his eyes, then clearly decided that he could take a joke. 

"Something with a decent range of wines and desserts," he said loftily. "And a good view. I find it aids digestion."

It was a better attitude than he'd displayed earlier or, apparently, to the medical staff, so Crawford nodded mildly and simply nodded at his arm.

"Don't scratch," he said. "Did you even know you were doing that?"

Ran looked surprised as he tucked his hands behind his back. "No. It's – odd. It's itchy, but it's not all on the surface." He let Crawford take his wrist and examine his arm, then did as he was told and went to apply some of the cream.

"That's better," Crawford said. "I wouldn't want the waiters in your preferred fancy restaurants thinking the _Rose_ 's crew had fleas."

"Well, you know, Captain," Ran said, his tone still determinedly humorous, "Having had a close look at the first officer, I wouldn't call those _fleas_. Some sort of alien crab, perhaps." He gave Crawford an all-too-fake smile that wavered just a little.

Being hit for disrespect, Crawford thought, would put him back in his place. It was, however, undignified, especially when he had just collected Ran from hospital. Asking Ran if he planned to actually fulfill any requests made of him, seeing as he was so determined to claim the freedoms of being the captain's favourite would be as effective. He settled for stepping closer and dredging up his best "officer about to drop a ton of shit on the troops" smile.

"You're cheeky today," he said. "They must have given you something good in that hospital. Let's see those ports again." He picked up Ran's arm and made a show of examining it, running a finger around the new ports at wrist and elbow, then putting a hand on the back of his neck and stroking around the port there.

"Captain?" Ran said, his eyes widening.

"Any discomfort as the connections form with the new implant?" Crawford said. "Any sensitivities with the other ports?"

"That – is quite sensitive," Ran said, shivering as Crawford circled his finger around the port. "It's not painful. Captain, what are you doing?"

"Checking your responses. We don't have to go out just yet; we could wait a while. If you wanted," Crawford said. Ran must have found out that the areas around the navigational ports were sensitive, he thought, but things were always different when it was someone else doing the touching.

"I'm quite hungry," Ran said in a dry whisper, sounding like he was convincing himself of the fact. "Could we go now?"

"Of course," Crawford said, and stepped back. Ran staggered a little, looking slightly confused and embarrassed, but regaining some composure as Crawford simply waved him towards the door. 

The streets outside were crowded, and Ran twitched a little as Crawford put a hand on his shoulder. It was the sort of gesture any ship's officer might make with a navigator, however, and within a few seconds he had relaxed into the touch. Crawford deliberately stroked his thumb across the port at the back of his neck and guided him on, pointing out local colourful sights before Ran had time to say anything. Ran looked sidelong at him and then walked on peaceably, within a few moments matching his stride to Crawford's, keeping in step. Crawford looked in satisfaction at the city, thinking Ran was finally learning to at least keep quiet. 

_Push me if you want, boy_ , he thought. _I push back._

Ran walked beside him, calm and well-mannered under his hand.


End file.
